North Texas
tennis assistant coach Jeff Maren has
been named the team's associate head
coach announced by Director of Athletics
Rick Villarreal on Monday.

"I am honored to be given the title of
associate head coach of the women's team
at North Texas," said Maren. "I
appreciate the confidence that Rick
Villarreal and Coach Lama have in me,
and I am looking forward to playing my
role in helping the team accomplish its
goals for next season."

"Since joining the coaching staff here
at North Texas, Coach Maren has helped
elevate North Texas tennis to national
prominence," said NT Director of
Athletics Rick Villarreal. "Jeff has
been an intregal part in the development
of the tennis program and is
well-deserving of being the team's
associate head coach."

Maren has been an assistant coach at
North Texas the past three years under
head coach Sujay Lama and has helped
bring success back to a program that was
2-19 in 2007. In 2007-08, the team
finished 13-9 with final ranking of No.
13 in the Southwest Region. The Mean
Green closed the '08-09 campaign with a
17-6 mark and a semifinals appearance in
the Sun Belt Championships.

"Coach Maren has been instrumental in
the turnaround of our program," said
Lama. "He has tremendous abilities as a
coach and is a great teacher. Most
importantly, Coach Maren is a good human
being who truly cares about his role as
a mentor to young people. This promotion
is well earned and we are blessed to
have him as part of our Mean Green
family."

Maren spent the better part of twenty
years teaching and managing tennis clubs
in Kentucky.

In 2005, Maren was presented with the
prestigious "Kentucky Pro Of The Year"
award by the USTA. In addition to his
involvement with tennis clubs, Maren
also has five years of college coaching
experience. He started and developed two
programs- the womenís team at Thomas
More College, and the menís team at
Brescia University.

Despite his success at the club level
and small college programs, Maren chose
to pursue a dream.

In addition to his coaching experience,
Coach Maren also has an extensive
playing background. He was a high school
All-American at Owensboro Catholic High
School in Kentucky. He earned a
scholarship to Thomas More College and
qualified for the NAIA National
Championships all four years (1985-89).
He was the district champion three times
in both singles and doubles, and was
nationally-ranked in singles his senior
year.

Maren finished his collegiate career
winning 81 out of 101 singles matches
played. He continued playing
competitively in open and pro events
around the country, and in 2002 was
ranked in the top 25 in the country in
menís 35 and over singles.

Maren has played tournament tennis every
year for the past 26 years.

Jeff has been married to his wife,
Julie, for 10 years and they have a
seven-year-old son, Zachary.